Both the crown and defence lawyers met privately with the judge, prior to open proceedings.

The 39-year-old accused did not

“As you know, under the criminal code, if a designation of counsel has been filed, I can act on her behalf,” says defence lawyer Joel Pink. “Since we elected to be tried by a provincial court judge, there's no need for her to be here.”

Hood was arrested in January of 2014, following an 11 week police investigation.

At the time, she was a grade six teacher at Thorburn Consolidated School, which has grades primary through nine. (more...)